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Wednesday, 7 June 2017

Dramaturgical Origins: Animikii Theatre @ Edfringe 2017

Animikii Theatre present:

Origins

The genesis of violence is explored in this physical tale of brotherly conflict

Directed by Ian Morgan, Adam Davies and Henry McGrath

ZOO Sanctuary, 4 – 25 Aug 2017 (not 7, 8, 14, 15 & 21), 12.30 (13.30)

Selected for 2016 'A Nation's Theatre' celebration at The Southbank Centre, physical theatre company Animikii Theatre’s retelling of the biblical story of Cain and Abel comes to Edinburgh this August.

The nature of brotherhood, grief, guilt, immortality and the possibility of redemption are all explored with muscular movement, dance, and combat, in this narrative of the mythical first murder. Introduced to Cain in exile, living out his life away from homeland and family, audiences are presented with Cain’s grim reality and his haunting memories as he retraces his steps to Eden, and answers to his nature and his fate.

Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas?

At Animikii Theatre we believe in the community that theatre brings. It is vital to seek to create new forms of theatre in order to push theatrical boundaries. We believe that theatre represents the platform in which the public can see, feel, and hear their own stories being represented, and their own ideas being challenged and stretched. We believe we are at a vital time as a nation to continue push art to the forefront of the conversation, and with it, open up a shared dialogue.

How did you become interested in making performance?

Adam Davies - I first became interested in making my own pieces of performance in 2009 when, without the luxury of an acting agent, I decided to write and produce my own work. This type of experience opened me up to the possibility of not just partaking in other artists’ desires and ambition but my own as a theatre maker. Since leaving RADA in 2013 my hunger to create bold, challenging and epic physical theatre has achieved greater heights. The likes of Complicite’s The Encounter and Gecko Theatre’s Missing also inspired me to dare to dream of pushing my own theatre making career.

Henry McGrath - I first became interested in making performance during my studies at University, where I initially encountered theatre practitioners such as the acclaimed Polish director Jerzy Grotowski. These initial inspirations informed my work and theatre making and led me to work with the internationally renowned Polish group, Song of the Goat theatre, to experience, first-hand, the work and lineage of the laboratory theatre. My desire and dreams were to develop a company, based within the UK that adopted, explored and transgressed these traditions in the hope of giving rise to a physical theatre ensemble that offered dynamic, innovative and inspiring performance to audiences at home.

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?

At Animikii Theatre we believe highly in dynamic physical improvisation. We are a training based theatre company that specialises in creating our own physical theatre exercises, and it is through these unique explorations where we make our best work. We also believe in challenging our own methods by endorsing the insight of collaborators from exciting backgrounds in theatre making. Through these collaborations we are able to push our improvisation and devising skills to incredible heights.

Does the show fit with your usual productions?

Origins is our debut production as a theatre company. It weaves our interests of epic, mythological and truly physical pieces of work. We have sought to create a piece that is both bold and challenging, and through Origins we have achieved that goal.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

We hope that Origins audiences will be challenged by what they experience. We hope for them to share the journey with Cain, and ultimately re-shape their own conceptions of the character. We hope that the audience will leave feeling like they have been immersed in multiple landscapes of both dream and memory and step out into the Edinburgh Fringe refreshed and enlivened by this perspective.

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?

In order to compose the unique theatrical world of Cain & Abel in Origins we sought to combine the use of luscious soundscapes and iridescent lighting, with the pulsating experience of physical stage action that fills the space with play, dread, grief and passion. We aimed to create a total experience for the audience that excites their senses on multiple levels.

A Manchester-based company of RADA graduates, Animikii Theatre were selected to develop their debut work Origins with The Lowry, developing a dark and violent psychological thriller where the performers’ movement and breath joins heartbeat-like music from Oscar Thompson to create a physically pulsating stage adventure. Journey into the landscapes of dream and reality, and confront life's primeval questions of faith, death and

Animikii is a physical theatre company based in Manchester, founded by Adam Davies and Henry McGrath in 2013. Adam and Henry trained and graduated from the experimental and innovative RADA course, the MA Theatre Lab. After graduating, they continued their research-based physical training and began to develop a unique theatrical style of their own, fusing physical-theatre with song, sound, rhythm and text. In 2013 they were selected for the 'Developed with The Lowry Initiative’.

The Lowry invite four promising emerging companies a year to join their 'Developed With' programme. These companies benefit from a package of support to help them develop a brand new show. Many ‘Developed With’ shows go on to tour nationally and internationally and return to play in one of The Lowry’s larger theatre spaces.

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